Eagles News: Chris Long wins 2018 Good Guy Award

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Eagles’ Chris Long selected as PFWA 2018 Good Guy Award winner - PFWA
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long, who was lauded for his dealings with the media during the Eagles Super Bowl LII-winning season in 2017, has been selected as the 2018 Good Guy Award winner by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA). Long, the 14th Good Guy Award winner, is the first member of the Eagles franchise to receive the honor from the PFWA. Other nominees for the Good Guy Award were Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Calais Campbell, Philadelphia safety Malcolm Jenkins, New York Jets quarterback Josh McCown, recently retired Cleveland Browns tackle Joe Thomas and recently retired Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten. The Good Guy Award is given to a NFL player for his qualities and professional style in helping pro football writers do their jobs. The award has been presented annually by the PFWA since 2005.

15 observations from the final Philadelphia Eagles minicamp practice - BGN
Nate Sudfeld threw a gorgeous ball to tight end Joshua Perkins in the back left corner of the end zone. He was fired up after the play. Wentz also gave a touchdown signal. Sudfeld once again showed great touch and accuracy by floating a ball over multiple defenders to Rashard Davis, who is only 5-9, along the sideline in the back middle of the end zone. The refs attending practice gave a touchdown signal, so it was good.

The Kist & Solak Show Ep. 43: Eye On The Enemy - Atlanta Falcons - BGN Radio
Michael Kist & Benjamin Solak talk top players at each position in the NFC East. Is Malcolm Jenkins the best nickel in the NFCE? PLUS Eye On the Enemy: Atlanta Falcons Edition! Solak say Matt Ryan is better than Russell Wilson... wow.

Eagles minicamp observations: Carson Wentz is really good - PhillyVoice
I hate to sound like a broken record, but Carson Wentz looks really good. It’s hard to fathom (a) how well he is moving six months after tearing his ACL and LCL, (b) the improvement he has made just from the start of OTAs a few weeks ago to the final day of minicamp, and (c) how well he is throwing the football.

A Wrap On A Very Fine Eagles Spring - PE.com
First, quarterback Carson Wentz. He looked far beyond anyone I’ve ever seen six-plus months after major knee surgery. All of the hours that he’s put into rehab, the endless dedication to recover, have paid off. He’s mobile and he’s planting that left foot and he’s letting his passes rip. Wentz progressed to the point where he took reps in 7-on-7 drills. The next step is 11-on-11 practices, and it is with this that there is no timetable. As I’ve said before, Wentz is going to get to 90 percent recovered by August. Then it’s going to inch forward. How quickly does Wentz reach that “fully cleared” point and step on the field with no restrictions? That’s the unknown. He will remain in Philadelphia between now and the July 25 reporting date for Training Camp, and continue his rehabilitation.

The two goals that drove Darren Sproles’ return to the Eagles - ESPN
“I want to go out with another ring,” he said, “and I want to go out No. 5 on the all-purpose yards list.” Sproles (19,155) currently ranks eighth on that list, but Steve Smith (19,180), Marshall Faulk (19,190) and Tim Brown (19,682) are within reach. Some believe back-to-back championships for the Eagles is a realistic goal as well, especially with a group of players who suffered season-ending injuries, including Sproles, Carson Wentz and Jason Peters on the mend. Once word crept out that Sproles was intending to play in 2018, the push for management to re-sign the free agent began in earnest.

Repaired and refreshed, Derek Barnett looks to build on strong rookie year - Daily News
“You talk about a long season for him – summer workouts [at Tennessee in 2016], the whole season, he goes straight into working out for the NFL, the combine, to the draft, get drafted, gotta come to rookie minicamp,” Means said. “All the OTAs, the vet minicamp, then training camp, then the preseason, then the whole year, then after that go to the postseason, go to the Super Bowl.” Surgery notwithstanding, Barnett got much more of a respite this offseason than he did when he was preparing to become a first-round pick. He is back to full strength, and though he will again be part of a rotation, he has a good shot at playing significantly more snaps on a defensive line that is very accomplished but also fairly old, with Graham, Chris Long, Haloti Ngata, and Michael Bennett standing on the far side of 30. “Most players make a significant improvement from Year 1 to Year 2, Schwartz said. “I think it’s sort of one of the adages of the NFL. That’s where you see a significant improvement.

Handing out Eagles superlatives at the end of minicamp - The Athletic
Player whose stock dropped. Kapadia: There are several possibilities here, but I’ll go with Sidney Jones. When he was on the field, he looked fine, but Jones did not participate at all in the three-day minicamp because of “lower body soreness.” Pederson said the soreness is not related to his recovery from an Achilles’ injury, but it’s fair to wonder why the team was so vague with its description of what was sidelining Jones. It’s too early to panic, but coming into the spring, I thought Jones had a chance to compete for an outside spot or at least play nickel. He still has to prove himself though. Jones will have more at stake during training camp than almost any player on the roster.

2017 Defeats - Football Outsiders
Aside from off-ball linebackers, this is where you’ll find most of the players from the overall defeats leaderboards. It’s also where you can find pairs of bookend defenders, the tandems that pinch an offense from either direction and leave them with nowhere to go. The Raiders (Bruce Irvin and Khalil Mack), Ravens (Matt Judon and Terrell Suggs), and Chargers (Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa) each had some of the best bookends in 2017. The Eagles could join them this fall if Brandon Graham and Michael Bennett can repeat what they did last year.

Edge vs Interior: Which pass-rusher reigns supreme - PFF
The traditional perception that interior defensive lineman are simply run-stuffers while edge defenders are responsible for creating pressure has gone the way of the printed map with NFL teams figuring out that passing reigns supreme. Players like Aaron Donald (99.7 PFF grade and 99.9 pass-rush grade), Fletcher Cox (90.3 pass-rush grade) and Geno Atkins (89.3 pass-rush grade) have generated tremendous value because they lay waste to would-be pass blockers and cause a nightmare for the opposing quarterback. Just because the interior d-linemen of today are making a name for themselves as pass-rushers doesn’t necessarily mean that the pressures they generate are more valuable or even as valuable as those generated by their counterparts on the edge. In fact, the surfeit of pass-rush production still resides on the edge; in 2017, there were two interior linemen with a pass-rush grade over 90.0 and 10 with a pass-rush grade of 80.0-plus, meanwhile six edge rushers earned a 90.0-plus pass-rush grade and 19 hit 85.0 or above.

Fight! Damon Harrison, Will Hernandez scuffle as mini-camp ends - Big Blue View
We have been talking about, really pretty much making light of, several fights rookie guard Will Hernandez has been involved in during New York Giants practices this spring. Well, he got into one with 350-pound defensive tackle Damon Harrison on Wednesday in which punches were thrown and left tackle Nate Solder might have been collateral damage. Not funny at all.

Cowboys Zack Martin got a record-setting deal - Blogging The Boys
Extending Martin was a foregone conclusion as he’s clearly one of the key pieces to this football team. There was nothing left for him to prove, so it all came down to how much. The front office is forking out a hefty chunk of change to Martin, but it’s going to be money well spent. He’s someone the team can count on and they are getting him during all of his prime years. In 2023, when he’ll be in the sixth and final year of his deal, Martin will be just 32 years old. He’s not going to be a player you have to worry about playing up to the level to warrant that kind of money. You don’t have to worry about his character or having any off-field issues. And if you need cap space down the road for future expenditures, his reliable performance makes him a low-risk contract restructure candidate. It’s a good deal all across the board for the Cowboys.

The Earl Thomas Contract Standoff Reveals a Seahawks Roster at a Crossroads - The Ringer
Thomas has long been the NFL’s best safety and one of the driving forces behind Seattle’s run of dominance. So why is the franchise so reluctant to commit to him moving forward?

A Spectator in Minicamp Week: Eric Wood on Retirement - Sports Illustrated
The longtime Bill, forced out of the game by a neck injury, finally has settled with the team and can look ahead—but he’s still feeling the itch as he sees his former teammates putting on the pads. Plus info on Zack Martin’s new contract, Teddy Bridgewater’s Jets status, expectations in San Francisco and more.

The Ravens are toying with a 2-QB set with Lamar Jackson and Joe Flacco. Will it really happen? - SB Nation
Lamar Jackson will undoubtedly take over as the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens some day. For now, it’s Joe Flacco’s job. But that isn’t stopping the Ravens from trying to figure out a way to use their first-round rookie while Flacco is still the starter. “Gosh, I’d sure like him out there helping us,” Harbaugh said of Jackson on Tuesday. “And he can play quarterback. If we put two quarterbacks on the field at once, what options does it create for our offense? That’s what we’re trying to figure out.

...

Social Media Information:

BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen

BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio

BGN Radio Facebook: Click here to like our page

BGN Radio Patreon: Support the show!

BGN Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton: Follow @BrandonGowton